


Grander Things

by shiningstar



Category: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Genre: Ambiguous Age, F/F, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Slavery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-22 13:30:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9609498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shiningstar/pseuds/shiningstar
Summary: Little Shmi Skywalker dreams of walking among the clouds with a heart as light as a feather.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [The_Wavesinger](https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Wavesinger/gifts).



Shmi knows she is meant for grander things. She looks toward the sky, breathing in the desert sun and sand and exhaling stardust and light which glitter with the promise of a better future.

The other slaves in the Tichak household don't believe her. They tell her to keep her head down and her smiles tight and maybe she won't get noticed. She's pretty and young and the last Human girl in the Tichak slave pens was sold to a Hutt and never heard from again.

Shmi tries to listen--she dimly remembers her mother's scolding when she failed to heed her grandmother's advice--but her gaze is always focused up and looking towards the sky. She dreams of walking among the clouds with a heart as light as feather.

Little Shmi Skywalker they call her, herding her along with kind hands and eyes full of pity.

When she is sold to Jochiss Khord she understands. Khord keeps pretty young females available for his business clients. Twi'lek and Human girls are good enough for most and for the others he keeps a few rarer girls. Shmi meets the young Togruta girl who is drugged up to her montrals and so spaced that she can't even tell Shmi her name. The Nautolan that shares a room with the Togruta is little better with her wide black eyes and head-tresses curled in defensively as she tells Shmi her name is Ielno.

Shmi shares a smaller room with a Twi'lek named Alis'lulas who is almost as new to the household as Shmi is. Their predecessors had been killed in the same incident--but no one will tell her more than that, their faces tight and eyes frightened. Shmi tries to be kind. She knows what happens in households that only keep girls while they're pretty and sell them after they're scarred.

Alis'lulas knows even less than Shmi does. She cries out for her _haoy_ and won't eat the food they're given. Shmi sighs and eats Alis'lulas portion of porridge, and saves both of their hard bread for when the girl eventually gets hungry. It does not surprise Shmi that Alis'lulas is called for before she is. When she comes back in the morning with a torn skirt and hurt eyes, Shmi opens her arms and waits.

Alis'lulas falls into her and cries. Shmi lets her. It is the kindest thing she can do. She hums songs she barely remembers from her childhood and makes no promises that she can't keep. They share the same bed after that.

Shmi is called for and it is just as awful as she had always been told. Alis'lulas holds her close and kisses her forehead. She whispers plans of how to escape and Shmi lets her. She still dreams of walking among the clouds with a heart as light as a feather.

With their hands clasped together and their bodies radiating warmth, Shmi lets herself fall into the fantasy of freedom. She trades kisses with Alis'lulas that are gentle and slow. There is no reason to rush. No chores. No duties. No masters. She curls her hands against Alis'lulas's purple skin and touches scars that are from silly mistakes and hard work instead of a temperamental master. Alis'lulas's lekku move to curl around her neck and they find a little shard of happiness together in that worn bed dreaming of a better future. That is all it is. A dream.

A month later, Alis'lulas tries to escape and Shmi follows her. They make it to the edge of Khord's property and the transmitter in Alis'lulas's body goes off. Khord steps from the shadows and shakes his head with mock disappointment as Shmi drops to her knees, with Alis'lulas's warm blood dripping down her face.

Shmi is sold the next morning to Pi-Lippa of Tatooine.


End file.
